langkawi magazine
Reviews SECTION
Charter Boat Weekend
I awoke early on the first morning. We were anchored below jungle clad cliffs and I was learning fast that nature doesn't mean quiet once the sun comes up. After breakfast, we did some exploring. Mike had a little bag of fish which he started to throw out of the dinghy. Gradually the sky filled with sea eagles, swooping and wheeling after the fish. The kids were mesmerized.
In the afternoon we got the sails up; and I do mean we. "All hands on deck," so to speak. Mike did all the complicated bits that looked dangerous and had us pulling on ropes. Don't get the wrong impression here. Although we were all ready for a relaxing holiday, we welcomed the unique opportunity to be more than just passengers on this beautiful ship. Besides, it wasn't as if we were on the Southern Ocean or working on a trawler.
The wind picked up and there was a creak of leather on wood as Stardust's rigging took up the strain. She sailed just past the horizontal, hardly a white knuckle ride, but I took the wheel and could feel the power in the wind and, after a while, I felt like the master of my domain, commanding the wind. It felt good to see 70 feet of deck in front of me, responding to my every request.
Mike dropped the boom net, a big net on a pole off the side of the boat, and invited us to hop in his salt water Jacuzzi. As our friend Ron wallowed in it; beer in one hand and damp cigarette in the other, he found a rare moment of lucidity. These moments define living.
We anchored for the night between two islands at about 6 pm and after showering, Mike loaded us into the dinghy and off towards a cliff face. A small cave opened up and we shot inside. We were suddenly in a long tunnel about a hundred meters long and through the opening at the other end we could see a magnificent beach. Excitement got the best of us as we all screamed with delight. We had hit the jackpot. We emerged into this fantastic little bay surrounded by jungle with Mansor already there, blowing the coals for the BBO. As darkness fell Mike lit the perfect bonfire while we sat around reminiscing about all things wonderful. It's at times like this that you wish you could play guitar.
The next morning saw us visiting a hidden salt water lagoon, again accessed by a cave and surrounded on all sides by cliffs. At the far side of the lagoon my daughter spotted a giant squirrel with a gold chest that Mike hadn't seen before but which he classified as a "giant squirrel". We gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Again the afternoon was for sailing and we had all started to feel rather comfortable with getting the sails up and down. Whenever we got too hot, we scuttled into the shaded cockpit or asked Mike to drop the boom net Jacuzzi. The evening saw us surrounded by dolphins.
I'd like to say we were swimming with dolphins, when in fact the dolphins did a pretty good job of avoiding us. They stayed with us for a breathless hour and then they were gone.
The following morning the kids left early with Mike to explore the mangrove river and came back in time to mop up what we'd left after breakfast. They were excitedly ranting about seeing hairy nosed otters; the perfect research for a paper my son is writing for school. Looking back now, it seems like we were an integral part of everything we experienced that weekend; as if we were meant to be there. I don't mind feeling that way at all and welcome the chance to do it all over again as soon as possible.
